The Things I Would Do For Love
by Cinaed Born Of Fire
Summary: When Paris unexpectedly dumps Goten two days before Christmas break, he's heart-broken, and Trunks offers to help him win her back. Even if that's the last thing he wants to do. *Shounen ai*


The Things I Would Do For Love  
  
(Author's Notes: This is a chaptered songfic, using the song "The Best Thing" by Savage Garden. Yes, I have an obsession with Savage Garden and long songfics. Before I begin the story, however, I must warn you that this story has shounen ai and shoujo ai content (male/male and female/female relationships). Scream all you want, but I don't care. I'm going to write what I want to write, and no one can stop me. Well, enjoy the tale!  
  
Disclaimers: All characters unless stated otherwise belong to Toriyama. The lyrics belong to Savage Garden.  
  
~Cinaed)  
  
~*~  
  
Never want to fly  
  
Never want to leave  
  
Never want to say what you mean to me  
  
Never want to run  
  
Frightened to believe  
  
You're the best thing about me  
  
~*~  
  
"That's it! We're through Son Goten! I don't ever want to see your ugly face ever again!" The screams hurt my ears as I ducked the various objects my girlfriend Paris threw at me. Well, ex-girlfriend now, I supposed.  
  
"Paris," I began, but her furious words cut me off.  
  
"I know you don't love me! You just wanted to screw me!" she railed, her usually lovely face contorted and red with anger. I blinked.  
  
"But, Paris, we didn't sleep together," I informed her, aware that she knew of that fact already. Paris ignored me, and continued with her yells.  
  
I noticed the other college students peering out of their doorways to stare at the scene, and I shrugged towards them, not knowing what had set my now ex-girlfriend off. She had acted really odd over the phone the night before, so I had driven over to check on her, not having a class that day except for gym. And everyone knows gym isn't important. Unfortunately, I had been met at the door with screams and curses.  
  
"Paris, are you okay?" I managed to question when she fell silent to catch her breath. "Is there something wrong at your home or something?" Paris laughed, but I heard a hysterical edge to her voice.  
  
"Nothing's wrong at my house, Goten. What's wrong is you!" she screamed. Once more, I repeated my blinking, running a shaky hand through my hair. What the hell was going on?  
  
"Paris-"  
  
"Admit it, Goten! You like someone else!" declared my ex-girlfriend, throwing my high school varsity jacket, the one I had earned for track, at my head. I ducked, and the leather jacket hit the wall with a loud thump.  
  
"I do not!" I yelled back, but in reply she threw a shoe at me. "Paris!"  
  
"Get lost!" she raged, and slammed the door, leaving me to stare in shock at metal number of her door. 507.  
  
"Paris!" I called, banging on the door. No reply. "Paris! Let me in! I didn't do anything! I didn't!" From within, I heard her laugh, rather bitterly, but otherwise she ignored me. My fists pounded on the entrance, leaving considerably large dents in the carved wood, but she didn't open the entry. "Paris!"  
  
Suddenly, a hard, firm hand clamped down on my shoulder, tightening painfully. I winced, and turned my head to look up into a security guard's unfriendly face.  
  
"You're going to have to leave," he informed me. I shook my head, and his grip tightened. "Now."  
  
"I didn't do anything," I said in disbelief as the security guard growled and dragged me from the college hall. "I never cheated on her."  
  
"I don't care if you did or if you didn't," the man enlightened me icily, "but you're causing a commotion and you have to leave."  
  
"But-" I protested weakly, and he threw me out the door.  
  
I stared in astonishment at the door of Paris' dormitory. I was completely and totally clueless on what had just happened. Wait, no I wasn't. I had just been dumped by the only girl I'd ever gone out with. Or even kissed, for that matter.  
  
Damn, this was definitely not my day..  
  
"Goten, what are you doing here?" I turned towards the voice, beginning to feel a numbness creep over me.  
  
"Paris dumped me," I said, almost matter-of-factly, and walked past Marron before she could say a word. I just had to.walk. Yeah, I had to walk until I could get rid of this numbness and be able to think straight about the unexpected breakup.  
  
I watched my sneakers as they marched against the sidewalk, the neon green clashing horribly with the white of the concrete. Marron and Trunks had gotten me the sneakers as a gag gift, and to spite them I had worn them every day for an entire year. Well, it would be an entire year this Christmas, which was a month away. In fact, we'd be heading home in two days.  
  
Great, I had been dumped just before Christmas. And I'd already bought her a present.  
  
~*~  
  
I flew above the clouds, oblivious to hiding my presence to anyone. Let them acknowledge me. I was the weakest of the Saiya-jinn anyway, so it really didn't matter. My hair was whipped away from my face and the wind slapped me hard as I increased my speed. I should go back to school and to gym. I knew that.  
  
And yet I continued to fly, soaring through the clear blue sky. I had lost sense of all time and direction, whether I was flying north, south, east, or west. Hell, gym class could be long over for all I knew. I closed my eyes and increased my speed, zipping recklessly through the skies. I'd hear a plane before one could hit me, couldn't I? Of course.  
  
I flew onward, raising my power to boost my speed again. Nowhere near Super Saiya-jinn, but an extra boost to enhance my momentum. I was still numb. Nothing mattered. The only girl I had ever been remotely interested in had just dumped me and accused me of cheating on her at the same time. I had bought her a present, a very expensive present, I might add. I had used up nearly all the money I earned as a grocery clerk during the summers and winter vacation to get her that gift. I had two days to figure out how to explain to my mother why the woman she had proclaimed to be my future wife had just kicked me from her dorm room.  
  
The fact of the matter is, don't think you'll hear a plane coming towards you when you're still in shock over your girlfriend dumping you. It simply isn't true, and your mistake can be very, very painful.. Although I don't see why the damn pilots didn't see ME.  
  
The nose of the airliner stuck me in the chest and sent me tumbling backwards, agony assuring me that I had broken something. I plummeted through the air, yelling all the profanities I knew in a breathless sort of way. I gazed up at the aircraft as it passed over me, the air channels catching me in their mighty grips and jerking me violently before releasing me to continue my plunge. I couldn't concentrate, couldn't focus on my ki because my chest was giving me hell, I was falling, tumbling head over heels towards the ground so very far below..  
  
And then I was in someone's arms, the impact sending red waves to crash over my vision and make me gasp in a mixture of surprise and pain.  
  
"Shit, Goten, what were you doing?" A voice was speaking to me, but the red waves were being steadily replaced by black, a black that left me even number than when Paris had slammed her door in my face.  
  
"She.left me.." I heard a voice that sounded suspiciously like my own murmur, sounding weak, before the blackness claimed me and oblivion reigned.  
  
~*~  
  
I came to aware that I was in bed, a nice, warm bed. Any pain in my chest was gone. Frowning a little as my memories came back to me, I opened my eyes and glanced around.  
  
"You're finally awake." That familiar voice filled my ears, and I immediately smiled a sheepish grin.  
  
"Hi Trunks. How long was I out?" My best friend looked exasperated, and I noticed he looked worn out, dark circles under his eyes.  
  
"Two whole days. We could only get a senzu bean about three hours ago. It's Christmas break, baka."  
  
"How badly did that plane bust me up?" I inquired, sitting up and only realizing that I wore no shirt once the thick blanket slipped half-way down my stomach. "It hurt like hell.."  
  
"I'd imagine five broken ribs and a cracked chest bone would," was his deadpan reply, my lavender-haired friend shifting the edge of the bed and looking towards the door. It was only then I realized where I was.  
  
"Hey, I'm home!" Trunks rolled his eyes, still not looking at me.  
  
"I already told you it was Christmas break. Did you expect to wake up in your dorm?" I pouted, tilting my head to the side.  
  
"No, but I didn't realize I was home.." Changing the subject as a hunger pang hit me, I asked hopefully, "Can I have some food?"  
  
"No, your mother hasn't cooked you a huge amount of food." Again with the sarcasm, and he still wasn't looking at me.  
  
"Trunks.." I let a whine slip into my voice. "You're being mean and I'm hungry.."  
  
Just then the door opened, and my mother bustled in, her arms filled with trays. Trunks leapt upright to help her, still not glancing my way. What was up with him? Her arms freed, she immediately repositioned me and tucked me in so that the blanket was covering everything but my head and arms.  
  
"Mom.." I hated when she treated me like a baby. Especially in front of Trunks.  
  
"Don't you 'mom' me, Goten!" she snapped, frowning at me as Trunks placed a bowl of steaming soup in my lap, the latter protected by a tray. "You're going to eat up, and then you're going to explain exactly what happened."  
  
Taking a spoon, I began to ravenously eat, each bowl being replaced by another one as soon as I finished it. After I had devoured eight bowls of soup, I began to slow. By the time I finished my tenth, I was full. Not wanting to talk about the incident, but knowing my mother would drag it out of me sooner or later I slowly put the spoon down and raised my eyes towards the inhabitants of my bedroom. When had my father and my brother entered the room?  
  
Goku had a goofy grin on, as always, though his eyes were watching me closely. Gohan was frowning and pushing his glasses from the tip of his nose, looking concerned. Chi-chi had her hands on her hips, awaiting my explanation. Trunks was in the doorway, his gaze flickering between Gohan and Goku.  
  
"Well?" My mother demanded when I didn't speak. "What happened?"  
  
"Nothing. I was just.distracted and the plane hit me," I muttered. I had no clue how to explain that Paris had dumped me, and I was going to hold off on announcing that for as long as possible.  
  
"Do NOT lie to me, Goten!" I winced as my mother's voice rose, and so did the other Saiya-jinn in the room. "Why were you distracted?"  
  
"I just was.." Let it be known that I have never once claimed to be a good liar.  
  
"Goten.." This time it was from my father, and I looked up at him. He met my gaze squarely, the look in his eyes sympathetic. "What happened?" The way he asked made it seem like more of a request than a demand like Chi- chi's was.  
  
"Paris dumped me, okay?" My defensive reply was out of my mouth before I could stop myself. "She slammed the door in my face and told me to get lost." Five years; we'd been together for five years, and all that was shot. That fact hit me in the gut and I closed my eyes for a moment, listening to their reactions instead of watching them.  
  
"I'm sorry, Goten," was Gohan's quiet comment, followed by Goku's, "It'll be all right, son."  
  
"She DUMPED you?" My mother's ear-splitting shriek made everyone clamp their hands to their ears. "Why that little BIT-" I opened my eyes to see that Goku had clamped his hand over her mouth.  
  
Wondering why only Trunks was silent, I looked up and realized he had vanished. A pang of emotion hit me, but I couldn't define it. What was wrong with him?  
  
Why was he deserting me, now of all times?  
  
- TBC - 


End file.
